Yasuda / Fuji Bank

Zenjiro Yasuda, a migrant from Toyama, opened a dry goods store in the Nihonbashi area of Edo in 1864, known as Yasuda-ya (lit.

[2] After the Meiji Restoration in 1869, the company underwrote bonds for the Japanese government, whose credit standing was low then, and financed many public works such as railroads, harbor constructions, and so forth.

[3] In the Taishō period, the Japanese banking community was thrown into financial difficulties because of World War I and the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.

In the immediate wake of the earthquake, Yasuda absorbed ten smaller regional banks which lacked a sufficient financial base to cover their deposits.

In an attempt to restore its preeminence, Fuji agreed to merge with Osaka-based Sanwa Bank in the late 1970s, but failed to win approval from the Ministry of Finance.

On November 24, 1997, Yamaichi, Fuji Bank's affiliated securities firm, announced it would cease operations and was declared bankrupt by the Tokyo District Court.

On September 29, 2000, all shares of Fuji, DKB and the Industrial Bank of Japan were acquired by a newly formed Mizuho Holdings.

At the time of the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York's World Trade Center, Fuji Bank's United States offices were located at the impact zone of United Airlines Flight 175 in 2 World Trade Center (the South Tower) occupying the office space on the 79th through 82nd floors.

Fuji Bank employee Stanley Praimnath was one of only eighteen remaining people located at the South Tower's collision zone to survive.

The Fuji Bank logo
The Fuji Bank logo